Camden institutions partner to launch groundbreaking Camden Cancer Research Center

In a significant collaborative effort, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, Cooper University Health Care, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) have launched the Camden Cancer Research Center (CCRC), a partnership to investigate cancer and translate basic cancer science into new treatments. The three organizations have pledged an initial $30 million to start this center.

Scientists in the CCRC will hail from the three organizations and the center will encompass all of Coriell’s cancer research efforts, including eight scientists responsible for $5 million in annual federal research funding currently.

“Cooper University Health Care, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, and the Coriell Institute—all Camden institutions—have long been leaders in science and health care in the region. With today's announcement, this new partnership will quickly become a national leader in the world of medicine and research. The Camden Cancer Research Center will accelerate progress on the cancer research front, changing the way cancer is diagnosed and treated in the future and saving lives,” said George E. Norcross III, chair of the Cooper University Health Care Board of Trustees.

“The scientists in this partnership are uniquely positioned to launch this one-of-a-kind effort. They come from a range of backgrounds and expertise but share a goal: learn as much as possible about the complex ways cancer develops in our body so we can prevent or defeat it with new tools and medicines,” said Jean-Pierre Issa, M.D., Coriell’s president and chief executive officer, who will serve as the inaugural director for the center. “The foundation of the CCRC offers this group long-term support in their search for new knowledge and their work to translate that knowledge to new treatments.”

“This historic partnership will unite three nationally recognized institutions with a shared vision of developing life-saving cancer treatments. This unique academic and research collaboration between Rowan University, Coriell, and Cooper will leverage the strengths and talents of each institution to unlock cancer research breakthroughs which will save lives in our region and beyond for the years to come,” said Kevin O’Dowd, J.D., co-CEO of Cooper University Health Care.

“This partnership will strengthen and expand the amount of advanced research our expert team at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, one of the leading cancer centers in the region, can participate in to benefit cancer patients right here in this region and around the world,” said Anthony J. Mazzarelli, M.D., J.D., M.B.E., co-CEO of Cooper.

“CMSRU is honored to be part of this collaborative effort among Camden institutions,” said Annette C. Reboli, M.D., dean of CMSRU. “The cancer research supported or performed by the CCRC will lead to breakthroughs that will ultimately benefit patients worldwide.”

The cooperation of Coriell, Cooper University Health Care, and CMSRU allows for unprecedented access for cancer researchers in South Jersey. This center connects scientists conducting basic cancer research with clinical care, allowing for the translation of basic findings into new treatments and improved patient care.

The Camden Cancer Research Center will also expand the resources and capabilities of the three institutions by creating new facilities with state-of-the-art technology to support this research. Among these new resources, a new biobank will be formed to house and distribute biological samples to scientists in the CCRC and other cancer researchers. This biobank will be housed at Coriell, long known around the world for its biobank, and guided by a Biorepository Subcommittee that will review requests for distribution.

The CCRC is led by a governance board comprising six leaders from across the partnering organizations. Coriell will be represented by Dr. Issa and Dean Stoios, M.B.A., its senior vice president and chief financial officer; Cooper will be represented by Generosa Grana, M.D., director of MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, and Roland Schwarting, M.D., chair of pathology at Cooper; and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University will be represented by Dean Reboli and Darren Boehning, Ph.D., CMSRU’s assistant dean for research.

This is the second research partnership between these three Camden neighbors. In the fall of 2018, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, Cooper University Health Care, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University launched the Camden Opioid Research Initiative, a collaborative research effort to investigate the genetic and non-genetic factors that affect one’s risk for developing opioid use disorder or response to addiction treatment.